Page 67 of The Anointed's Paladin

I snorted with a dry laugh as Talon felled another figure. I had bitten off way more than I could chew. How could I have anticipated these two? How could I have guessed that I could feel the way I had in the last few days?

I hadn’t thought I’d even get to experiencehappinessagain. Peace. And I wasn’t quite there. But these two made me realise it might be possible for me.

Andfuck, I wanted more.

30

Three hot, three mad

Talon

We’d taken out the initial group, but more were coming. Lots more.

With difficulty, I reined in Mirilith’s blood, stepping back and trying to make a more tactical decision.

“Fall back!” I shouted at Nidori and Kaine. Kaine reappeared and rolled his eyes but started the retreat.

Nidori wasn’t as easily persuaded. She continued to weave, eyes glazed over in fury. I wasn’t even sure if she heard me.

I went and scooped her up. She growled at me, batting with her small hands before blinking.

“Time to go,” I said.

Nidori screeched and twisted, summoning thick, thorny branches that sprouted from the ground in front of us. That would definitely slow the new arrivals down.

She panted heavily, squirming until I let her go. She shot to the ground, lifting up a satchel, but thankfully, she continued on with us.

We ran, finally reaching the edge of a cliff. A river thundered far below, echoing up the stone ravine.

There was a single wooden bridge leading across. I took it, running, Kaine right behind me. Nidori was struggling with the bag; I wondered what was in it that was worth stealing.

We had reached the other side when we heard a yell. Our pursuers were closer than I thought.

We looked back at the bridge, the only path across the chasm.

“Hmm. Seems like the only choice is to blow it up. With fire,” Nidori said, not hiding her glee.

“What!?” I spluttered.

Kaine grinned. “What anexcellentidea.”

“Absolutely not. That’s aterribleidea,” I said firmly.

“Who died and put you in charge?” Kaine asked.

“Yeah. It’s two votes to one,” said Nidori.

I glared at them. “Votes of insane persons don’t count.”

“So, it’s two votes to none, then,” snipped Kaine.

“Ha!” said Nidori smugly. “He called youinsane.”

“Oh, come on. Can wepleaseblow it up?” Kaine looked at me with puppy dog eyes. “Pretty please?”

Fuck. That look… It wasn’t supposed to work when Iknewwhat he was doing. Nidori landed on his shoulder and stuck out her bottom lip, joining him. More noises echoed from across the way.

“I’m not having anything to do with this,” I said, throwing my hands up. They couldn’t really set a bridge on fire without me.

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